Drum handling apparatus



April 9, 1940. M 2,196,178

DRUM HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 27, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 MA R ION E. DIC E lNVENTOR AT RNEY I April 9, 1940. M. E. DICE 2,196,178

DRUM HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 27, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY M. E. DICE DRUM HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 27, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 MARION E. DICE INVENTOR Patented Apr. 9, 1940 UNITED STATES DRUM HANDLING APPARATUS Marion E. Dice, Huntington Park, Calif., assignor to Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 27, 1938, Serial No. 231,883

1 Claim.

My invention relates to the protective and decorative painting of the outer surfaces of drums or containers such as are used for the storage and transportation of lubricating oils and numerous other commodities.

These drums represent a considerable investment, and it is desirable that they be protected as effectively as possible against the powerful abrasive and corrosive agents to which they are 10 often subjected. Frequent repainting has been found of the greatest value in lengthening the useful life of drums.

Furthermore, these drums areconspicuous objects; the psychological effect of clean, well cared for drums is extremely important from the merchandising point of view, particularly when characteristic colors are used by a concern for trademark purposes.

In the case of a large concern which has many empty drums returned each day it is obvious that the reconditioning of drums becomes a considerable enterprise in itself and that labor-saving apparatus for aiding in the work is of importance.

It is old in the art to provide rollers capable of rotating a drum while paint is applied with spraying apparatus and various devioeshave been constructed incorporating such rollers. However, the usual practice requires much exhausting and time consuming manual handling of the drums; and since it has been necessary to lift the drums upon the rollers by hand, it has been customary that the rollers be only slightly above floor level, thus requiring the operator of the paint gun to lean over his work into the ascending column. of finely divided paint which is always present during the spraying operation.

The object of my invention is to provide apparatus which will perform the handling of drums required during the painting operation.

A specific object of my invention is to. provide rollers, at a convenient height, for rotating a drum while it is being painted.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for lifting a drum onto these rollers.

45 means of upending a painted drum and transporting it away from the apparatus without marring the freshly painted surface.

Further objects ofmy invention will appear from a considerationof the following description and of the attached drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my apparatus; and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of my apparatus, as from the right hand side of Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring tothe drawings, 9 is an unpainted drum shown in end view in Fig. 3 in position to begin its course through the machine. This drum is also shown in broken lines indicating the method, hereinafter described, by which it is lifted A further object of my invention is to provide into position to be painted. ID is a fixed framework adapted to serve as support for the movable parts of the apparatus. Conical rollers ll-ll are mounted as shown on shafts l2 and I3. In the embodiment here shown, shaft I2 is driven synchronously with shaft I3 by means of chain l4; however, I have found that very nearly as good results are obtained by eliminating chain l4, allowing shaft [2 and its attached rollers to run free as an idler. The difference in wear on the driving rollers and on the idling rollers is unimportant in magnitude, and the simplification has been found preferable in some cases.

By means of chains l5 and i6 and the associated sprockets motion is transmitted, with suitable reduction in speed, from motor I! to shaft l3.

Shaft I3 is mounted on fixed framework H), but shaft I2 is mounted on a movable frame l8 pivotally attached to shaft l3 as shown by means of bushings l9-l9. This frame I8 is connected by link 20, arm 2|, and shaft 22 to pedal 23 in such manner that downward pressure on the pedal lifts shaft l2 and its attached rollers, thereby propelling a freshly painted drum backward off the rollers onto the upending cradle generally indicated at 24.

Cradle 24 comprises the platform 25 which in the embodiment shown is an open framework, the segment of roller conveyor 26 rigidly attached to platform 25 in L shape, brace 21 or a similar member to insure rigidity and to act as a backstop for the drums as they are rolled onto the platform, and grooved sector 28 which is of approximately 90 and is attached to the remainder of the cradle by means of plate 29 and triangular brace 30. In the normal position of cradle 24 shown in the drawings, platform 25 is horizontal and behind rollers l l-l I, at a slightly lower elevation in order that drums ejected from the rollers by the abovedescribed motion of shaft l2 may roll into position on the platform 25. Inclined plates 3l-3l and 32-32, the latter being portions of the platform, form tracks for. the drums to roll upon.

By means of pneumatic cylinder 33, the motion being transmitted through cable 34 over idling pulley 35 and sector 28, the cradle may be turned slightly over 90 about pivots 36-36. A motor, thruster, or other means could be used instead of the preferred actuating means shown. Pivots 36-36 are inline with the center of sector 28 and so located that the cradle is not in equilibrium in its raised position unless a drum or portion of a drum rests on the 'conveyor segment 26. In this raisedposition conveyor segment 26 is slightly inclined and continuous with roller conveyor 31, along which painted, upended drums are transported by gravity to a drying room and thence to storage.

Also actuated by pneumatic cylinder 33 or m equivalent mechanism are lifting arms 38-38. These arms are connected in a rigid framework with axle 39, cross member 40, and grooved sector 4|. Axle 39 is mounted, parallel to shafts 2 and I3, on the framework Ill at points 42-42. Arms 38-38 have arcuate portions as shown which rest preferably in recesses in the flooring in such manner that a drum can be rolled upon the arms into position to be lifted by them without the necessity of the operators using any muscular effort in raising the drum. It is possible to provide a conveyor which will eliminate also the necessity of drums being rolled into position by hand, but this rolling is notarduous nor greatly fatiguing and for ordinary purposes such a conveyor is unnecessary as well as undesirable because of probable interference with the painting operation.

Cable 43, attached like cable 34 to the piston rod of cylinder 33, runs over idling pulleys 44, 45, and 46 and sector 4|, thereby transmitting motion from the cylinder to the framework which includes arms 38-38. When compressed air is admitted to cylinder 33, arms 38-38 are raised, as shown with broken lines in Fig. 3, and a drum resting upon them is lifted to the position from whence it will roll onto the rollers I.

It is not necessary that arms 3838 and cradle 24 be actuated by the same pneumatic cylinder and their motion thereby synchronized, but by so doing I achieve economy of material and increased simplicity of control. In the embodiment shown sectors 28 and 4| are of nearly the same radius and degree of are but in a different embodiment this might not be true. The preferred amount of motion of cradle 24 will always be near 90 if upending of drums is desired, but the motion required of arms fill-38, depending on their shape and the location of pivotal points 4242, may be decidedly more or less than 90. The radius required in each sector is, of course, easily calculated, being the stroke length of cylinder 33 divided by the measure in radians of the amount of angular motion desired in each case.

Communicating with the interior of cylinder 33 is pipe 47, which leads to a conventional twoway control valve, not shown, at any convenient location and thence to any preferred source of compressed air. A two-way valve is used in order to provide exhaust means for cylinder 33, and permits control of the return motion of cradle 24 and arms 38-38. Stop member 48 is provided to halt the upward motion of cradle 24, and members 4949 to halt the return motion.

It is desirable that a hood with means for forcing a strong up-draft be used over this apparatus, however such hoods are conventional and well known and therefore none is shown in the attached drawings. Also not shown is the paint spraying apparatus which may be of any preferred' type. a

The method of using my apparatus will in most respects be apparent from a consideration of the attached drawings and the above description. A drum is rolled into position, as shown in Fig. 3, upon the arms 38-38, then air is admitted to cylinder 33, which lifts the drum, as indicated by broken lines, and allows it to drop into position on the rollers Air is then released from the cylinder, permitting arms 38-38 and. also cradle 2 5 to drop into normal position.

The motor I is started up if this has not already been done, and the rollers are thereby turned and they rotate the drum about its axis. The conical form of the rollers, besides reducing contact area with the drum, acts to keep the drum centered as it rotates and permits drums of various lengths to be handled without adjusting roller spacing. The operator sprays paint on the revolving drum, covering both the cylindrical surface and the heads. Paint of different colors, from separate paint guns, may be used if desired.

The drum having been thus painted, the operator steps on pedal 23, propelling the drum back into the cradle 23. Another unpainted drum is then rolled onto the arms 3838, and pressure again applied in cylinder 33. As before, the unpainted drum is lifted up and deposited on the rollers; simultaneously the newly painted drum is upended by the motion of cradle 24 and is carried off by gravity or mechanical means along the conveyor 3'! to a convenient location where paint may dry and thereafter to suitable storage space or to a filling spout. Operation may proceed in the same manner until the supply of unpainted drums is exhausted.

It is possible to achieve further economy of apparatus and simplicity of control by using the same motor I! which drives the rollers to drive the pump which supplies pressure to the paint gun or guns. This is practical since it is never necessary that the rollers be revolved except when painting is being done.

My apparatus performs mechanically all necessary handling of freshly painted drums, thus reducing marring of the wet surface to a minimum as well as saving labor, and it performs all necessary lifting of the drums, thus saving the operator from a particularly arduous and exhausting type of work and permitting the use of rollers at a convenient height for the painting operation. Also the height of the rollers and the additional lifting performed by cradle 24 are of value in permitting the use of a gravity conveyor to remove the painted drums. In addition to permitting faster and better quality work, the apparatus removes a hazard to the health of the operator, since he is not required to lean over into the ascending column of paint mist as is necessary with floor level rollers, nor is he even required to wear a mask if the exhaust system of the hood is adequate.

I claim as my invention:

A device for the mechanical manipulation of drums in a drum-painting process, which includes rollers adapted to support and to rotate said drums, pivoted arms adapted to lift said drums upon said rollers, means for ejecting said drums from said rollers, and a cradle adapted to receive said drums from said rollers and to transfer said drums to a conveyor, characterized by: cables for actuating both said cradle and said pivoted arms; grooved sectors arranged to transmit lineal motion of said cables as rotative motion to said cradle and to said pivoted arms; and a single means for imparting lineal motion to said cables, whereby the motions of said cradle and of said pivoted arms are synchronized.

MARION .E. DICE. 

